Most Indispensable New York Giants: No. 5 Could Very Well Be Team’s Best Pass Rusher

The Giants on SI list of most indispensable Giants turns the page to No. 5 on our countdown. The list was compiled based on a vote among the Giants on SI editorial contributors.

Brian Burns, OLB

Height: 6-5
Weight: 250 lbs.
College: Florida State
NFL Exp: 6 Years
Career Stats: 97 GP/84 GS. 317 tackles, 76 TFL. 21 PBUs, 10 FF, 113 QBH, 54.5 Sacks

A year ago, New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen made a huge trade that immediately paid dividends for the defense.

That trade was for Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Brian Burns, a young pass rusher who, ever since entering the league as the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft, had never posted fewer than 8.0 sacks and was a two-time Pro Bowler (2021 and 2022).

That comes to a respectable one sack per every 44.29 pass rush attempts; regarding the stat, that is one of the ultimate goals on defense.

Related to his pass-rushing prowess is that Burns, per NFL Pro, has posted at least 50 quarterback pressures in seasons in which he’s played at least 720 defensive snaps. Considering that the Giants didn’t have to give up any first-round picks for a player who plays a position that doesn’t grow on trees, it has been well worth it thus far for the Giants' defense.

Why He’s Indispensable

Two things make Burns well worth his current rate. The first is durability. Throughout his career, Burns has rarely missed a game, even when the wear and tear he’s endured has undoubtedly made his body plead for mercy to his heart and soul.

Last year, the man nicknamed “Spider-Man " after the Marvel Comics superhero put on a superhero display of his own by pushing through some painful lower body injuries that might have otherwise forced some of those with lesser iron wills to the bench.

Burns was one of two Giants who didn’t miss a single game snap, yet he delivered a career-best 66 pressures and fell just a half-sack short of his career average of 9.0 sacks.

Speaking of stats, his sack total came in second on the Giants’ defense last year. There is Burns’s production. His 66 quarterback pressures (15.2%) led the defense by a country mile. He finished fourth league-wide in ESPN's edge pass-rush win rate with a 23% success rate.

His 2.58 average time to pressure was also the best among the Giants' linebackers, and he generated five or more pressures in eight games.

Then, there was his prowess against the run. His 49 stops marked a new career high, a figure that tied him for second among Giants linebackers with inside linebacker Bobby Okereke. Burns, in short, did it all, proving last year that the 5-year, $141 million contract he received (currently the sixth highest overall value among edge rushers) after the trade was completed was well worth the investment.

New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) rushes past the offensive line during a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What Happens if He’s Missing?

Some will argue that thanks to the addition of Abdul Carter, the Giants’ first-round pick this year, the defense might not be as devastating if it has to be without Burns for any period.

While we agree that having Carter spell Burns (and Kayvon Thibodeaux) on occasion wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, particularly after how both veterans were beaten up physically by the end of a season in which the defense was on the field a lot more than it should have, one thing that Burns does well that sort of flies under the radar is that he is terrific in coverage.

With one exception (2020), Burns, who, per Pro Football Focus, has logged 342 career snaps in coverage, is usually targeted fewer than 15 times per season. To put that number into perspective, Thibodeaux, in half the seasons Burns has logged, has already been in coverage 162 times in his career, coverage is not one of his strengths.

Sure enough, the arrival of Burns helped fix that in defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s defense. Last season, Thibodeaux only dropped into coverage seven times, way down from the 84 and 71 coverage snaps he played in his first two seasons.

It remains to be seen how much Carter, who is also more than adequate in coverage, affects the numbers, but it’s nice to see that Bowen stopped forcing Thibodeaux into a role for which he wasn’t really a good fit, an occurrence made possible thanks to Burns' arrival last season.

His List Ranking

Despite his value to the defense, Burns’s placement at No. 5 on this list seems to result from the arrival of Carter, who some analysts have said plays a nearly identical game to that of Burns (that remains to be seen).

That said, with the Giants now legitimately three deep at edge rusher, we can see the logic in Burns's placement in the middle of the pack. Again, his value to the defense is a lot higher than the vote might have given him credit for.

Moving Forward

The key to getting one’s money’s worth with a player is not running him into the ground. The more pounding a guy takes, especially early on in his career, the faster he tends to “age” in football years.

Burns has averaged 782.6 defensive snaps over his career and, again, hasn’t missed a game, a stat in which he undoubtedly takes pride.

The Giants removed special teams snaps from Burns’s gameday duties last year, the first time in his pro career he did not partake in a single special teams snap.

With Carter now on board, it might behoove the Giants to reduce Burns’s defensive workload, which has seen him play 800+ snaps per season since 2021. This would allow for him to stay as fresh as possible as the season wears on, especially this season since the Giants’ bye isn’t until Week 14.

Other Indispensable Giants

JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Follow and like us on Facebook. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel. And if you want to send a letter to our mailbag, you can do so here.